- fiscal year (FY)
-
An annual period established for accounting purposes. The
Sudanese fiscal year extends from July 1 to the following
June 30.
- GDP--(gross domestic product)
-
A value measure of the flow of domestic goods and services
produced by an economy over a period of time, such as a year.
Only output values of goods for final consumption and intermediate
production are assumed to be included in the final prices.
GDP is sometimes aggregated and shown at market prices, meaning
that indirect taxes and subsidies are included; when these
indirect taxes and subsidies have been eliminated, the result
is GDP at factor cost. The word gross indicates that
deductions for depreciation of physical assets have not been
made. Income arising from investments and possessions owned
abroad is not included, only domestic production. Hence, the
use of the word domestic to distinguish GDP from
gross national product (q.v.).
- GNP--gross national product
-
The gross domestic product (q.v.) plus net income
or loss stemming from transactions with foreign countries
including income received from abroad by residents and subtracting
payments remitted abroad to nonresidents. GNP is the broadest
measurement of the output of goods and services by an economy.
It can be calculated at market prices, which include indirect
taxes and subsidies. Because indirect taxes and subsidies
are only transfer payments, GNP is often calculated at factor
cost by removing indirect taxes and subsidies.
- hadith
-
Tradition based on the precedent of Prophet Muhammad's words
and deeds that serves as one of the sources of Islamic law.
- hafr (pl., hafri)
-
An excavated water reservoir fed by rainfall.
- imam
-
A word used in several senses. In general use and lower-
cased, it means the leader of congregational prayers; as such
it implies no ordination or special spiritual powers beyond
sufficient education to carry out this function. It is also
used figuratively by many Sunni (q.v.) Muslims to
mean the leader of the Islamic community. Among Shia (q.v.)
Muslims, the word takes on many complex and controversial
meanings; in general, however, it indicates that particular
descendant of the House of Ali who is believed to have been
God's designated repository of the spiritual authority inherent
in that line. The identity of this individual and the means
of ascertaining his identity have been the major issues causing
divisions among Shia.
- International Monetary Fund (IMF)
-
Established along with the World Bank (q.v.) in
1945, the IMF is a specialized agency affiliated with the
United Nations and is responsible for stabilizing international
exchange rates and payments. The main business of the IMF
is the provision of loans to its members (including industrialized
and developing countries) when they experience balance of
payments difficulties. These loans frequently carry conditions
that require substantial internal economic adjustments by
the recipients, most of which are developing countries.
- jazirah
-
Peninsula or island; with upper case, term refers to the
cultivated lands south of Khartoum between the Blue Nile and
the White Nile.
- jizzu
-
Located in the area of latitude 16o in northwest
Darfur and in Chad; region beyond the semidesert where the
late rains produce a combination of grass and herbaceous plants
in winter such that camels and sheep can graze without additional
water supply.
- khalwa
-
Small Islamic rural school that stressed memorization of
the Quran and provided some instruction in the reading and
writing of Arabic.
- naziriyah
-
Formerly, among nomadic and seminomadic Arab groups, an administrative
and local court under a nazir, comprising several
umudiyat (q.v.). A naziriyah included
either an entire tribe or a section of a large tribe.
- qoz
-
General term used for sand dunes.
- Sahel
-
A narrow band of land bordering the southern Sahara, stretching
across Africa. It is characterized by an average annual rainfall
of between 150 and 500 millimeters and is mainly suited to
pastoralism.
- sharia
-
Traditional code of Islamic law, both civil and criminal,
based in part on the Quran (q.v.). Also drawn from
the hadith (q.v.); the consensus of Islamic belief
(ijma; i.e., consensus of the authorities on a legal
question); and analogy (qiyas; i.e., an elaboration
of the intent of law).
- shaykh
-
Leader or chief. Word of Arabic origin used to mean either
a political or a learned religious leader. Also used as an
honorific.
- Shia(s) (or Shüte, from Shiat Ali, the
Party of Ali)
-
A member of the smaller of the two great divisions of Islam.
The Shia supported the claims of Ali and his line to presumptive
right to the caliphate and leadership of the Muslim community,
and on this issue they divided from he Sunni (q.v.)
in the first great schism within Islam. Later schisms have
produced further divisions among the Shia over the identity
and number of Imams (q.v.). Shia revere Twelve Imams,
the last of whom is believed to be in hiding.
- the Sudan
-
Historic term for the geographical region stretching across
Africa from Cape Verde on the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea
between 8o and 16o north latitude; characterized
by savanna and semiarid steppe. Term derived from Arabic bilad
as sudan (literally, land of the blacks). Not to be confused
with Sudan, the country.
- Sudanese pound (£Sd)
-
Sudanese currency consists of 1,000 millimes = 100 piasters
= 1 Sudanese pound. As of March 31, 1991, the official exchange
rate was US$1 = £S1.30; from February 1985 to October
1987, the official exchange rate was set at US$1 = £2.50.
- sudd
-
Barrier or obstruction; with lower case the term designates
clumps of aquatic vegetation that block the Nile channel;
with upper case, the term is used loosely for the entire White
Nile swamps.
- Sunni
-
From sunna meaning "custom," giving connotation of orthodoxy
in theory and practice. A member of the larger of the two
great divisions of Islam. The Sunnis supported the traditional
method of election to the caliphate and accepted the Umayyad
line. On this issue they divided from the Shia (q.v.)
in the first great schism within Islam.
- Three Towns
-
Sudanese reference to the cities of Khartoum, Khartoum North,
and Omdurman. Located in close proximity to the juncture of
the White Nile and Blue Nile rivers, they form a single metropolitan
area.
- transhumant
-
Transhumance is the seasonal movement of livestock along
well-established routes by herders or by an ethnic group as
a whole.
- umudiyah (pl., umudiyat)
-
Formerly a political division under an umda, encompassing
a number of villages in the case of sedentary peoples or a
section of a tribe in the case of nomadic peoples. Among nomadic
or seminomadic peoples several such divisions constituted
a naziriyah (q.v.).
- World Bank
-
Informal name used to designate a group of three affiliated
international institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association
(IDA), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The
IBRD, established in 1945, has as its primary purpose the
provision of loans to developing countries for productive
projects. The IDA, a legally separate loan fund but administered
by the staff of the IBRD, was set up in 1960 to furnish credits
to the poorest developing countries on much easier terms than
those of conventional IBRD loans. The IFC, founded in 1956,
supplements the activities of the IBRD through loans and assistance
designed specifically to encourage the growth of productive
private enterprises in the less developed countries. The president
and certain senior officers of the IBRD hold the same positions
in the IFC. The three institutions are owned by the governments
of the countries that subscribe their capital. To participate
in the World Bank group, member states must first belong to
the International Monetary Fund (IMF-- q.v.).